SQLSaturday #470 - Washington DC 2015
Event Date: 12/05/2015 00:00:00
Event Location:
- The Microsoft Technology Center
- 5404 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 700
- Chevy Chase, Maryland
This event has completed. All data shown below is from the historical XML public data available.
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Sessions
This is a list of sessions from the event, based on the schedule in the XML files.
Title: TFS for SQL/BI Developers
Abstract: If you do any kind of SQL Server or BI development, you eventually have to grapple with the problem of keeping multiple copies of your work. You either need to maintain stored procedure and DDL scripts or you have copies of SSIS and SSRS reports to keep up with. In most cases, this problem starts off small as you need to have development versus production copies of your code. But eventually, it becomes harder and harder to maintain your “source code” as your environment becomes more complex and as you potentially have to start working with a team of other developers. During this session, we’ll talk about Team Foundation Server (TFS) and show you the different ways it can be used to keep up with all the different types of source code you might be responsible for – from full database designs to complete BI solutions.
Speaker(s):
- Dave Fackler
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-1 (Mix)
Title: Table Vars and Temp Tables – What you NEED to Know!
Abstract: Almost every SQL Developer is familiar with Table Variables and Temporary Tables. While each of these objects represents temporary storage, there are also substantial differences between them. Understanding the differences between Table Variables and Temporary Tables, and the ramifications that those differences cause, is essential to being able to properly select the appropriate object for use in your development tasks. In this code filled session, we’ll discover the differences and similarities of Temporary Tables and Table Variables, dispel some widespread myths about each, and answer the most important questions of them all, “When do I use one or the other and what are the various impacts of doing so?”
Speaker(s):
- Wayne Sheffield
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-1 (Mix)
Title: Advanced SSIS Techniques
Abstract: As an ETL developer using SQL Server Integration Services have you ever wondered how to:
- Import all .csv files from a folder
- Replace dynamic SQL using variables in SSIS
- How to configure the data flow buffer
- Create custom logging solutions
- Use a script component as a data flow transformation
This session focuses on advanced techniques that are used in SSIS and is meant for the experienced SSIS developer. We will focus on tasks and techniques that are native to SSIS 2005-2014 as well as some of the more advanced and vague properties.
Attendees must have a good working knowledge of SSIS as well as familiarity with VB.NET or C# as some time will be taken looking at extending SSIS with script tasks and components. Upon completion of this workshop attendees will be able to: - Import/export multiple sources/destinations
- Use an execute SQL task with variables to replace dynamic SQL within a package
- Dynamically handle errors within any part of a package
Speaker(s):
- David Dye
Track and Room: Other - 7-4 (BI 1)
Title: SSIS: Design principles for robust ETL processes
Abstract: Is the design of your ETL processes robust? Does your ETL process keep you awake at night?
Data integration is still the most common point of failure of data centric projects and choosing a mature ETL tool, such as SSIS, is not enough. In many cases this is due to improper planning and the use of questionable design principles. During this session we will look at ETL processes from a holistic point of view to identify key areas that are often neglected and that have the potential to affect the system reliability and increase its maintenance cost. We will use SSIS to evaluate key ETL architecture areas - such as re-start ability, monitoring, error handling, among others- and discuss design principles you can use to improve the architecture of your ETL processes going forward. You will find the session valuable regardless of you level of expertise in ETL.
Speaker(s):
- Rafael Salas
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - 7-3 (BI 2)
Title: Performance Tuning Pit Stop for DBAs
Abstract: Our users are in constant demand of faster running servers that spill out data before they can blink. Performance can be hard to measure and improve. Before we get in the race we will cover how to get a Performance baseline using the PAL Tools. The first Pit Stop will be to review TempDB setup to improve performance. Before getting into high gear we’ll pull over to refuel on some Log File best practices and performance implications of VLFs. Finally before passing the checkered flag we’ll make one more stop to talk about Data Files and improving your mileage from there. After this session you’ll have a good idea of how to make changes transparent to any application to get your server crossing that finish line in style!
Speaker(s):
- Ayman El-Ghazali
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 7-1 (Mix)
Title: Making the Leap from Developer to DBA
Abstract: You are a Developer (.NET, SQL or otherwise) but you have been doing some DBA work and have now decided that is all you want to do - how do you make the transition? What do you need to know? This session will cover this topic from first-hand experience.
Speaker(s):
- Amy Herold
Track and Room: Professional Development - 7-5 (PD)
Title: Distributed Replay: Testing With Your Data, Your Way!
Abstract: Do you want to test hardware upgrades, index tuning or multi-client applications? Would you like to do this with data specific to your organization? Distributed Replay, introduced in SQL Server 2012, is a tool that will allow you to accomplish exactly that. In this session, we will cover why you should use it, how to set it up, and what types of data to collect for testing and replay. This session will demonstrate tangible methods and undocumented tidbits, that you can take back to your environment to create immediate, and measurable tests.
Speaker(s):
- Melody Zacharias
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-3 (BI 2)
Title: Get Testing with tSQLt
Abstract: tSQLt is a testing framework that is designed to help you write repeatable, isolated tests against your database code. In this session we will briefly examine the goals of testing, where it can be used in an automated deployment pipeline, and introduce you to the tSQLt framework. We’ll show you how to design and write tests to enforce standards, check calculations and other DML operations as well as check exception handling. You will see how a real world refactoring task can be tested in a repeatable manner. Learn how you can incrementally write tests that help you build higher quality code and minimize the introduction of errors against your existing objects.
Speaker(s):
- Steve Jones
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 5-1 (Mix)
Title: A New Approach to Unit and Integration Testing in SSIS
Abstract: Testing is a critical part of the release process and vital to a high-quality data management lifecycle. Unfortunately, Integration Services (SSIS) does not have built-in support for testing and the tools for relational database testing are limited. As a result, most organizations forgo automated testing and focus entirely on manual user testing, which is both expensive and often occurs too late in the process to address all of the issues discovered.
In this session, a new approach to unit testing (focusing on verifying the correctness of individual packages, tasks, or dataflows) and integration testing (focusing on validating that the data produced by an entire sequence of transformations) will be discussed. This development pattern uses metadata authored by analysts to automatically generate testing logic within the corresponding packages or to automatically generate standalone test packages that contain all of the necessary validation logic.
Speaker(s):
- Reeves Smith
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - 7-1 (Mix)
Title: T-SQL 101: Getting started with T-SQL
Abstract: Learn Basics of SQL and T-SQL querying in Microsoft SQL Server. This session will assume you have no or very little knowledge of writing T-SQL. We will cover following in order: set based theory, select statement, joining two or more tables, T-SQL functions, update statement. We will also touch briefly on basic query performance tips. By the end of the session, you will know how to query a database.
If you want to follow along in the class, please have SQL Server and AdventureWorks2012 database installed on your computer.
Speaker(s):
- Ravi Kumar
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-2 (DB 1)
Title: If You Build It, They Will Come–Creating Your Own Opportunities!
Abstract: Often times we might feel like we are simply spinning our wheels and can’t seem to move ahead. Perhaps we see others getting opportunities and can’t quite place why more doesn’t come our way. This session will discuss how we can put ourselves in the drivers seat when it comes to making opportunities so we can make some decisions about what we want to do rather than choosing from what is left.
Speaker(s):
- Carlos L Chacon
Track and Room: Professional Development - 7-5 (PD)
Title: Wheaton’s Law for Technology Pros: Level up your customer service
Abstract: DBAs (and IT folk in general) have a terrible reputation for being stubborn, jerky curmudgeons. These guys exist, and working with them is a miserable experience–but they’re a minority. Unfortunately, they are a memorable minority and they give the rest of us a bad name.
It can be hard to enforce the rules, do what’s best for your environment, and offer outstanding customer support. It can be tough–rules mean telling people no. Rules mean making decisions that might make some people unhappy. In this session, we’ll talk about some of these challenges and how to deal with them, all while obeying Wheaton’s Law.
Speaker(s):
- Andy Mallon
Track and Room: Professional Development - 7-5 (PD)
Title: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Database Change Automation
Abstract: Automation and Continuous Delivery are at the forefront of software development processes today. However, databases are being neglected because database code is different, harder to automate, and DBAs just don’t seem to trust database automation. This is not surprising when you consider the number of incidents and instances of downtime that were caused by out-of-process updates, code overrides, and other database glitches. In this session, we will explain the options to automate database changes along with the benefits and issues with each option.
Speaker(s):
- Cindy Bean
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 7-2 (DB 1)
Title: Dimensional Modeling Design Patterns: Beyond Basics
Abstract: Dimensional modeling is arguably one of the most important fundamentals of business intelligence. It is still relevant even as new technologies like PowerPivot and SSAS Tabular Models are becoming more popular. Correctly modeling your organization’s data not only protects the most important asset your company has but ensures that your data mart or data warehouse will be responsive and capable of accommodating emerging requirements.
This session provides a deeper dive into the art of dimensional modeling. We will look at the different types of fact tables and dimension tables, how and when to use them. We will also some approaches to creating rich hierarchies that make reporting a snap. Finally we will cover physical design choices.This case study and demo based session promises to be very interactive and engaging, bring your toughest Dimensional Modeling quandaries.
Speaker(s):
- Jason Horner
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - 7-4 (BI 1)
Title: Window Functions in SQL Server
Abstract: Recent versions of SQL Server brings with it nearly full ANSI compliance with the window functions. Come to this code filled session to learn about all of the window functions in SQL Server 2012: Ranking functions, changes for windowing in the Aggregate functions and the new Analytic functions. We’ll examine how this latest implementation of the window functions allows us to perform running and sliding aggregations; retrieve data from adjacent rows in the partition, and much more – all without expensive self-joins or Row-By-Agonizing-Row (RBAR) back to the source table.
Speaker(s):
- Wayne Sheffield
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 5-1 (Mix)
Title: Service Broker: Introduction to wheeling and dealing
Abstract: This session is an introduction to Service Broker basics. Service Broker is your way to process your data asynchronously in a single instance setting as well as use as a near real time ETL. Wheel and deal your data processing.
Speaker(s):
- William Wolf
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-3 (BI 2)
Title: TSQL Coding Techniques - Are You Playing with Fire?
Abstract: The good news? T-SQL is one of the easiest coding languages to learn. The bad news? Writing scalable T-SQL that performs optimally is an art that takes years to master. In this session, learn about some common T-SQL Troublemakers - Looping, Scalar Functions, Implicit Conversions, Non-Parameterized SQL and Parameter Sniffing. Through examples and demos in this session you will witness the situational pitfalls of the techniques above. With each demo, you will be given an alternate T-SQL solution that solves the same problem in an efficient and scalable manner. Let’s get things moving!
Speaker(s):
- Mindy Curnutt
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-2 (DB 1)
Title: What Can Data Quality Services Do for You?
Abstract: In 2002, U.S. businesses lost an estimated $600 BILLION a year because of data quality problems. In 2012, Microsoft offered Data Quality Services (DQS) to reduce some of that loss. DQS enables analysts to recognize data quality defects and manage business rules to correct those data defects. Once defined, those business rules are available for use throughout the enterprise in SSIS packages so the data loaded is as clean as the business-defined rules. Standardizing and de-duplicating data are no match for DQS. Join me as I profile and standardize data before your very eyes.
Speaker(s):
- Mark Hudson
Track and Room: Other - 7-4 (BI 1)
Title: Sponsor Session
Abstract: A session slot reserved for our Platinum Sponsor speakers to present a technical, non-marketing session in.
Speaker(s):
- Chris Bell
Track and Room: Other - 7-2 (DB 1)
Title: Only You Can Prevent Database Fires!
Abstract: Do you find yourself constantly putting out “fires”? Can’t take anymore heat in the data center? We as DBAs can easily become burnt out with dealing with these daily blazes. Wouldn’t it be grand to learn how to prevent these fires from scorching us to begin with? In this session, we will jump into things you can start implementing as “fire prevention” to stop the “fire fighting”. We will talk about several things that you can take back to your shop and put into action easily ranging from code tuning, backup maintenance, monitoring and performance tuning!
Speaker(s):
- John Morehouse
Track and Room: DBA 1 - 7-2 (DB 1)
Title: Watch Brent Tune Queries
Abstract: You’re in a dark room with an ugly query. What do you do next? Microsoft Certified Master Brent Ozar shares his time-tested method of tuning queries starting with simplifying, analyzing the execution plan, making index tweaks, and measuring improvements with statistics. You’ll learn a repeatable process you can use to make queries go faster.
Speaker(s):
- Brent Ozar
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 5-1 (Mix)
Title: Disaster Recovery 101
Abstract: So you have a good backup strategy in place, but now you have to think about a disaster recovery. Where do you start and what are your options? SQL Server offers several options, but then how do you choose the right one to meet your business requirements? In this session, we will go over some of the common DR options including log shipping, replication, mirroring, clustering, and AlwaysOn. Then we will talk about how to choose the best one to meet your business needs.
Speaker(s):
- Tracy Boggiano
Track and Room: Strategy and Architecture - 5-2 (DB 2)
Title: T-SQL for Application Developers - Attendees chose
Abstract: That’s right, attendees choose! I’ll show 30 possible topics on the screen, and the attendees vote on which topics I’ll cover. Everything from isolation levels to ranking…everything from GUIDs to table-valued functions….everything from querying temporal data to instances where subqueries are necessary….everything from update triggers to reading execution plans. The good news is that you’ll walk away with 30 code samples, even though we’ll only cover a portion of them in the presentation. This has always been a very popular session.
Speaker(s):
- Kevin Goff
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-3 (BI 2)
Title: Branding Yourself for a Dream Job
Abstract: Everyone wants a dream job that they enjoy going to each week. However finding that job, and getting yourself hired can be hard for most people. Steve Jones will give you practical tips and suggestions in this session that show you how to better market yourself, how to get the attention of employers, and help improve the chances that the job you want will get offered to you. Learn about networking, blogging, and more.
Speaker(s):
- Steve Jones
Track and Room: Other - 5-1 (Mix)
Title: How to Think Like the Engine
Abstract: You’re a developer or a DBA, and you’re comfortable writing queries to get the data you need. You’re much less comfortable trying to design the right indexes for your database server. In this session with Microsoft Certified Master Brent Ozar, you’ll role play as the database engine while Brent gives you queries. You’ll learn first-hand about clustered indexes, nonclustered indexes, execution plans, sargability, statistics, TempDB spills, and T-SQL anti-patterns.
Speaker(s):
- Brent Ozar
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 5-1 (Mix)
Title: Get Familiar with Spatial Data
Abstract: You’ve never worked with spatial data and would like to know how to do it. We’ll go through very basic SQL Server Spatial data functionality and draw some Spatial pictures using Management Studio.
Speaker(s):
- Slava Murygin
Track and Room: Application Database Development - 7-2 (DB 1)
Title: Policy Based Management - Beyond the Basics
Abstract: Policy Based Management is a great feature of SQL Server and easy to implement; however, for most organizations you need a way to customize it to your enterprise. Join me for this session as we take a deeper dive into PBM to see how you can customize polices, evaluate those polices across your entire enterprise environment, track those changes over time, and deliver reports to management showing your progress.
Speaker(s):
- Patrick Keisler
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 5-2 (DB 2)
Title: Understanding the Impact of Flash on SQL Server
Abstract: The concept of storing data on flash chips has been around since the late 80’s, but has traditionally been cost prohibitive in most cases. As the technology continues to improve we are seeing much higher capacities with significantly lower pricing, so the power of flash is no longer limited to just those companies with multi-million dollar technology budgets. This session will take a vendor-agnostic look at the different patterns for leveraging flash and what those mean for a SQL Server Database Administrator.
Speaker(s):
- Michael Wells
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 7-4 (BI 1)
Title: Automated SQL Server installation and configuration using PowerShell
Abstract: Using the SQL setup wizard and management studio (SSMS) to install and configure a new SQL server is a time-intensive process. PowerShell scripts can greatly reduce the time required to complete the process. They can also ensure build standardization throughout your SQL environment. In this session we will look at PowerShell scripting, including the basic syntax and commandlets needed to automate the installation and post-install configuration of a SQL Server.
Speaker(s):
- Jamie Wick
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 5-2 (DB 2)
Title: I’m It - Survival Techniques for the Lone DBA
Abstract: Are you the only database person at your company? Are you both the DBA and the Developer? Being the only data professional in an environment can seem overwhelming, daunting, and darn near impossible sometimes. However, it can also be extremely rewarding and empowering. This session will cover how you can keep your sanity, get stuff done, and still love your job. We’ll cover how I have survived and thrived being a Lone DBA for 15 years and how you can too. When you finish this session, you’ll know what you can do to make your job easier, where to find help, and how to still be able to advance and enrich your career.
Speaker(s):
- Monica Rathbun
Track and Room: Professional Development - 7-5 (PD)
Title: Using BIML as an SSIS Design Patterns Engine
Abstract: Business Intelligence Markup Language provides a powerful solution for creating and managing SSIS Design Patterns. Andy Leonard, one of the authors of SSIS Design Patterns, demonstrates the flexibility of BIML in this session.
Speaker(s):
- Andy Leonard
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - 7-4 (BI 1)
Title: SQL Server Storage Engine under the hood
Abstract: How SQL Server performs I/O
How is SQL Server really accessing the data and log files on the disk? What’s done asynchronous and what’s synchronous and what impact does that have on our queries and DML statements. Which impact have features like database mirroring and replication, what’s different when SQL Server is starting up. #160; Which I/O Subsystems (including SSD) are best for which type of data and what’s the impact if you choose a different one. Which files can be placed on the same volume and which should not.
Speaker(s):
- Thomas Grohser
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 5-2 (DB 2)
Title: First Look at SQL Server 2016
Abstract: Microsoft has been busy working on the next version of SQL Server - SQL Server 2016. We will go over some of the new features at a high level and dig deeper on Row Level Security and StretchDB. Row Level Security allows you to add another layer of security to your environment. StretchDB will allow you to transparently place part or all of a table into a SQL Azure DB freeing up your valuable SAN space for data that is COLD.
Speaker(s):
- Rick Heiges
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 7-1 (Mix)
Title: Building dynamic SSIS packages for more flexibility
Abstract: After building a handful of SSIS packages, you probably want to have more flexibility to make the package execution more dynamic. In this session, we will learn how to use variables, expressions, and loops to do things like: extract data to a file with today’s date in the file name, load all files in a directory at the same time, and loop through a set of servers to gather data. For this session, you should already be familiar with how to create SSIS packages to load data from flat files and extract data to flat files.
Speaker(s):
- Matt Nelson
Track and Room: BI Platform Architecture, Development Administration - 7-3 (BI 2)
Title: Become a SQL Server Performance Detective
Abstract: When your database is having performance issues, you need to quickly and accurately diagnose and resolve performance issues. Like any good detective, you need to look for clues to find “The Smoking Gun.” We will cover various tools we have in SQL Server 2008 and above at our disposal which can help us pinpoint and resolve issues quickly, using Dynamic Management Views (DMVs), SQL Profiler and other queries. We will discuss emergent performance issues as well as chronic issues and find ways to piece together the clues to figure out the root cause of our problems.
Speaker(s):
- Danette Riviello
Track and Room: Enterprise Database Administration Deployment - 5-2 (DB 2)
Speakers
This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.
David Dye
David is a Sergeant with the Cape Coral Police Department and currently works as a database administrator and developer in the Administrative Services Division. He began his career with the police department in 1990 in the patrol division and worked various assignments until being promoted to Sergeant in 1998. Based on his education and experience David was assigned to his current position in 2002 and is responsible for database administration, software integration, and development for public sa
Andy Mallon
Twitter: - AMtwo
LinkedIn: Andy Mallon
Contact: http://www.AM2.co
Andy is a Data Platform MVP and SQL Server DBA that has managed databases in the healthcare, finance, e-commerce, and non-profit sectors. He has been supporting high-volume, highly-available OLTP environments with demanding performance needs since 2003.
Andy is the founder of the BostonSQL User Group, and previous co-organizer of SQLSaturday events in Boston. He blogs at am2.co.
Andy lives just outside Boston, Massachusetts, USA with his husband and their two dogs.
Cindy Bean
LinkedIn: Cindy Bean
Cindy Bean is a Technical Consultant at DBmaestro, a pioneer and leading DevOps for database solution provider, enabling Agile development and Continuous Integration and Delivery for the database. She has worked with SQL Server and other relational database products for over 20 years as a DBA, product manager, and consultant. Cindy has previously worked at Idera, Bradmark Technologies, BMC Software, and Sybase.
Thomas Grohser
LinkedIn: Thomas Grohser
Thomas Grohser has spent most of the past 26+ years exploring the deeper inner workings of SQL Server and its features while working for entertainment, pharmaceutical, and financial services industries. His primary focus is to architect, plan, build, and operate reliable, highly available, secure, and scalable infrastructures for SQL Server. Over the years he has managed thousands of SQL Server instances, processing trillions of rows, taking up petabytes of storage. Thomas has been a Microsoft Data Platform MVP for 9 years and has spoken regularly at conferences, SQLSaturdays, and user groups for 12 years.
Reeves Smith
Twitter: - SQLReeves
LinkedIn: Reeves Smith
Contact: http://reevessmith.wordpress.com
Reeves Smith, owner and principal architect of Macer Consulting, is passionate about applying data technologies that empower organizations. Reeves wields his knowledge and experience to lead, design, architect, and teach, working with both data center and business project teams. He approaches every project by first understanding the organization’s business challenges, and then developing a unique approach that targets those business needs accurately and effectively.
Reeves Smith has more than 20 years of experience working on the SQL Server stack. He is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Microsoft Certified Master, and regularly delivers technical presentations at international, regional, and local conferences and user groups.
Monica Rathbun
Twitter: - SQLEspresso
LinkedIn: Monica Rathbun
Contact: http://www.sqlespresso.com
Monica Rathbun lives in Virginia, is a Microsoft MVP for Data Platform and Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert. She has nearly two decades of experience working with a wide variety of database platforms with a focus on SQL Server and the Microsoft Data Platform. She is a frequent speaker at IT industry conferences on topics including performance tuning and configuration management. She is the Leader of the Hampton Roads SQL Server User Group and a Mid‐Atlantic PASS Regional Mentor. She is passionate about SQL Server and the SQL Server community, doing anything she can to give back. Monica can always be found on Twitter (@sqlespresso) handing out helpful tips. You can find Monica blogging at sqlespresso.com
Brent Ozar
Twitter: - BrentO
LinkedIn: Brent Ozar
Contact: https://www.BrentOzar.com
Brent Ozar loves to make SQL Server faster. He created sp_Blitz and the SQL Server First Responder Kit. He shares what he’s learned at BrentOzar.com.
John Morehouse
Twitter: - SQLrUs
LinkedIn: John Morehouse
Contact: http://www.sqlrus.com
John Morehouse is currently a Consultant with Denny Cherry Associates living in Louisville, Kentucky. With over 2 decades of technical experience in various industries, John now focuses on the Microsoft Data platform and specializes in Microsoft SQL Server. He is honored to be a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, VMWare vExpert, Friend of Red Gate, Sentry One PAC member Community Ambassador, and 2016 Idera Ace. John has a passion around speaking, teaching technical topics, and giving back to the technical community as much as possible. He is a user group leader, SQLSaturday organizer, and former PASS regional mentor. He is also a blogger, avid tweeter, and a frequent speaker at SQLSaturday’s as well as other conferences.
Rick Heiges
Twitter: - heigesr2
LinkedIn: Rick Heiges
Contact: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rick_heiges/default.aspx
Rick is a Former Data Platfrom MVP and Sr. Consultant for Microsoft where he focuses on working with customers on their data estate. His career includes work as a DBA, University full-time faculty member, Systems Analyst, Project Leader, and Developer. He has found his passion in working with data and the community. Rick served nine years on the PASS Board of Directors and spearheaded the popular 24 Hours of PASS event. He also started his local User Group in 2002. Today, he spends much of his time with his head in the clouds.
Brent Ozar
Twitter: - BrentO
LinkedIn: Brent Ozar
Contact: https://www.BrentOzar.com
Brent Ozar loves to make SQL Server faster. He created sp_Blitz and the SQL Server First Responder Kit. He shares what he’s learned at BrentOzar.com.
Rafael Salas
Twitter: - @RafSalas
Contact: http://www.rafael-salas.com
Rafael Salas is a recognized speaker and published author with more than 17 years of experience in business intelligence and information architecture. He is the recipient of multiple industry recognition, including the Microsoft MVP Award and The Data Warehouse Institute Best Practices Award. Rafael is also an active member of the SQL Server technical community and blogs regularly at www.rafael-salas.com.
Wayne Sheffield
Twitter: - @DBAWayne
LinkedIn: Wayne Sheffield
Contact: http://blog.waynesheffield.com/wayne
Wayne Sheffield, a Microsoft Certified Master in SQL Server and Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, started working with xBase databases in the late 80’s. With over 25 years in IT, he has worked with SQL Server (since 6.5 in the late 90’s) in various dev/admin roles, with an emphasis in performance tuning. He is the author of several articles at www.sqlservercentral.com, a co-author of “SQL Server T-SQL Recipes”, and enjoys sharing his knowledge by presenting at SQL events worldwide and blogging at http://blog.waynesheffield.com/wayne
Danette Riviello
Twitter: - n/a
LinkedIn: Danette Riviello
Contact: http://n/a
Danette Riviello has been working with databases for thirty years. With experience as a database developer, database administrator and manager of DBAs, she is now Lead System Architect at Magellan Health. She has spoken at a SQL Pass Summit, Baltimore SQL Server Users Group and SQLSaturdays. Her technical expertise is in Disaster Recovery Planning, Performance Tuning and Replication.
Slava Murygin
Twitter: - SlavaSQL
LinkedIn: Slava Murygin
Contact: http://slavasql.blogspot.com/
Started working with SQL Server 7.0 as DBA and Developer. Since then went through all SQL Server versions, migrations and multiple companies of different sizes and industries. Currently working as a contractor with all aspects of SQL Server, including, but not limited to: troubleshooting performance, designing/developing: databases, systems, processes, data warehouses, cubes, reports, ETLs; Refactoring old code; Migrating data from other systems to SQL Server; Securing the data on enterprise level.
Amy Herold
Twitter: - @texasamy
LinkedIn: Amy Herold
Contact: http://www.sqlkitten.com/
Amy Herold is currently a Premier Field Engineer with Microsoft, specializing in APS. Prior to this, she was a Sr. Database Administrator, focusing on PowerShell and automation. She is also currently the Director of Programs for the North Texas SQL Server User Group (NTSSUG). She frequently speaks at SQLSaturday and user group events across the United States and has also participated in numerous Women in Technology sessions as a panelist. Amy currently blogs at sqlkitten.com.
Melody Zacharias
Twitter: - SQLMelody
LinkedIn: Melody Zacharias
Contact: http://sqlmelody.com
Melody is the Sr. Microsoft Solutions Manager at Pure and has been in love with data since 1991. She has been sharing her passion with the community in technical sessions and blogs since 2014. She has been a Microsoft MVP since 2016, including winning Rookie of the year for Canada that year. This last year, she was elected to the board of directors for PASS.org, the professional association for SQL Server and was awarded Regional Director by Microsoft. She has co-authored 3 books, including, SQL Server 2019 Administration inside out by Microsoft Press.
William Wolf
Twitter: - sqlwarewolf
LinkedIn: William Wolf
Contact: http://www.sqlwarewolf.com
Bill is the Manager of SQL Server Performance Tuning for RDX. He works with over 400 customers on solutions within the SQL Server environment and specialized in code tuning and mentoring the team within RDX. He has become a SQLSaturday veteran speaking at nearly 40 SQLSaturdays in the last 3 years. He has also spoken at Summit and is an Idera Ace class of 2018. Bill is active in the Pittsburgh SQL Server User Group. He is also the chapter lead for the DevOps Virtual User Group. He is passionate about educating users on SQL Server and mentoring others.
Andy Leonard
Twitter: - AndyLeonard
LinkedIn: Andy Leonard
Contact: https://andyleonard.blog
Andy Leonard is founder and Chief Data Engineer at Enterprise Data Analytics, Microsoft Data Platform MVP, creator of the DILM (Data Integration Lifecycle Management) Suite, an SSIS trainer, consultant, developer, Business Intelligence Markup Language (Biml) developer and BimlHero, SQL Server database and data warehouse developer, community mentor, engineer, and farmer. He is a co-author of “The Biml Book and SQL Server Integration Services Design Patterns” and author of “Managing Geeks - A Journey of Leading by Doing”, “Data Integration Lifecycle Management with SSIS”, “Building Custom Tasks for SSIS”, and the “Stairway to Integration Services”. Andy blogs at andyleonard.blog where you can learn more on the About Andy page.
Kevin Goff
Twitter: - @KevinSGoff
Contact: http://www.KevinSGoff.net
Kevin S. Goff (http://www.kevinsgoff.net) is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Database architect/developer/speaker/author
Regular columnist for CoDe Magazine on .NET, SQL Server, and Business Intelligence topics
Frequent speaker at community events in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Host of BDBI Radio (http://www.bdbiradio.com), a weekly webcast on SQL/BI topics
Matt Nelson
Twitter: - http://twitter.com/mattpgh
LinkedIn: Matt Nelson
Contact: http://wwww.nelsonsweb.net
Matt Nelson is a Database Administrator and Business Intelligence developer for RDX (Remote DBA Experts) in Pittsburgh, PA. With over 10 years of experience, He works with more than 200 clients on general database administration needs and BI projects. Matt is also the Chapter Leader of the Pittsburgh SQL Server Users Group, and an organizer of Pittsburgh SQLSaturday. He occasionally blogs at www.nelsonsweb.net and http://www.rdx.com/Blog/
Dave Fackler
Twitter: - @sqlbiguru
LinkedIn: Dave Fackler
Contact: http://davefackler.blogspot.com/
Dave Fackler is a business intelligence architect, focusing on enterprise data warehouse and business intelligence solutions using Microsoft technologies. Dave has helped organizations design and implement large-scale data warehouses, exploiting SQL Server enterprise database features using dimensional modeling design principles and best practices. He has also architected and developed several enterprise ETL processes using SSIS and its robust set of high-performance tasks and transformations. Dave has delivered various end-user reporting solutions using SSAS and SSRS, often coupled with SharePoint and Office components. Dave speaks about business intelligence at numerous technical conferences, user groups and professional groups each year.
Jason Horner
Twitter: - jasonhorner
LinkedIn: Jason Horner
Contact: http://blog.jasonhorner.com
Hi, my name is Jason I’m a practice lead at Redapt. I spend most of my day helping clients solve business problems mostly in the Data and Advanced Analytics spaces. Sometimes this involves various and sundry cloud technologies including Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Data Lake Store, Azure Databricks, HDInsight and Azure SQL Database. I’m fluent in several languages including: SQL, C#, Python, and PowerShell.
I’m a Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server (MCM) and have been recognized for my technical excellence and evangelism efforts by Microsoft by being awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for the last 5+ years.
In my off hours I like to snowboard, karaoke, ride roller coasters, and play arcade games
Steve Jones
Twitter: - way0utwest
LinkedIn: Steve Jones
Contact: http://www.voiceofthedba.com/
Steve Jones is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP and has been working with SQL Server since version 4.2 on OS/2. After working as a DBA and developer for a variety of companies, Steve co-founded the community website SQLServerCentral.com in 2001. Since 2004, Steve has been the full-time editor of the site, ensuring it continues to be a great resource for SQL Server professionals. Over the last decade, Steve has written hundreds of articles about SQL Server for SQLServerCentral.com, SQL Server Standard magazine, SQL Server Magazine, and Database Journal.
Jamie Wick
Twitter: - Jamie_Wick
LinkedIn: Jamie Wick
Contact: http://blog.wicktech.net
Jamie Wick is the Systems Database Engineer for The College of William Mary and has been working with SQL databases for the past 10+ years. His background includes working for several years as a SQL SysAdmin for the University of Queensland (Australia), a Masters degree in Computer Information Systems from Boston University, and assorted Microsoft SQL certifications. He is the Chapter Leader of the Richmond SQL Server Users Group, a volunteer and speaker at regional SQL events (User Groups/SQLSaturdays), helps run the SQLSaturday RVA events, and is an avid photographer.
Mark Hudson
Twitter: - HMarkHudson
Mark Hudson is an MCITP with many years of experience in business intelligence and data analysis. He has developed data solutions using numerous platform tools including multiple SQL Server versions. He is a data architect and developer with CapTech (www.captechconsulting.com) and served as a leader of the Richmond SQL Server User Group (www.richmondsql.org).
Michael Wells
Twitter: - @SqlTechMike
LinkedIn: Michael Wells
Contact: http://sqltechmike.com
Michael Wells is a Microsoft Specialist at Dell EMC covering enterprise customers. He has worked in IT since 2000 and has supported all versions of SQL Server from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2014. Michael has been presenting since 2007 for local user groups, CodeCamps, SQLSaturday events, IT Pro Camps, and large conferences like PASS Summit and Oracle OpenWorld.
Wayne Sheffield
Twitter: - @DBAWayne
LinkedIn: Wayne Sheffield
Contact: http://blog.waynesheffield.com/wayne
Wayne Sheffield, a Microsoft Certified Master in SQL Server and Microsoft Most Valuable Professional, started working with xBase databases in the late 80’s. With over 25 years in IT, he has worked with SQL Server (since 6.5 in the late 90’s) in various dev/admin roles, with an emphasis in performance tuning. He is the author of several articles at www.sqlservercentral.com, a co-author of “SQL Server T-SQL Recipes”, and enjoys sharing his knowledge by presenting at SQL events worldwide and blogging at http://blog.waynesheffield.com/wayne
Chris Bell
Twitter: - @cbelldba
LinkedIn: Chris Bell
Contact: https://www.wateroxconsulting.com/
Chris Bell offers a unique view of how we live and work with data, both now and as we head into the future. Having braved many roles, lifecycles, and battles in the IT world, he has honed his DBA (Database Administration or Do ‘Bout Anything) skills in Information Systems and development, focusing on SQL Server. Currently, he serves as the lead DBA at The Motley Fool. You can keep up with Chris’ thoughts and technical community activities at WaterOxConsulting.com.
Mindy Curnutt
Twitter: - @sqlgirl
LinkedIn: Mindy Curnutt
Contact: http://www.mindycurnutt.com
Mindy Curnutt is a 5X Microsoft Data Platform MVP, Business Owner and Entrepreneur. Her specialties include SQL Server hardware, configuration, migrations, scalability, performance tuning. She has been actively involved in the SQL Server Community for over two decades and has become a well known speaker within the SQL and Transportation Management communities. She is a two-time PASS Volunteer of the Month, has presented at 6 SQLPASS Summits, Live360, DevConnections, MVPMix and too many SQLSaturdays to count. She is currently the President of the North Texas SQL Server User Group out of Dallas/Fort Worth, TX.
Ayman El-Ghazali
Twitter: - thesqlpro
LinkedIn: Ayman El-Ghazali
Contact: http://www.thesqlpro.com
Ayman is a passionate SQL Server DBA, Developer, and BI Developer. His passion for technology started when he was a young boy playing DOS games on his father’s computer. He can be reached via his blog or twitter handle and is looking forward to connecting with other SQL Geeks.
Ravi Kumar
Twitter: - @sqlravi
I have over 12 years of experience working with SQL Server and Business Intelligence Technology. My current focus is cloud technologies: Power BI, Azure Analysis Services, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Data Factory. As a PFE at Microsoft, I regularly deliver 2 - 4 day training workshops.
Carlos L Chacon
Twitter: - @CarlosLChacon
LinkedIn: Carlos L Chacon
Contact: http://sqldatapartners.com/blog
Carlos Chacon is the managing partner of SQL Data Partners LLC and co-host of the popular SQL Data Partners Podcast. While getting his start as a typical accidental DBA, Carlos has sat on Microsoft exam review panels, served as regional mentor and chapter leader. He enjoys traveling and has been to four continents, speaks Spanish and can eat his weight in raspberries (not yet proven). He and his family live in Richmond, Virginia.
Patrick Keisler
Twitter: - @PatrickKeisler
LinkedIn: Patrick Keisler
Contact: http://www.patrickkeisler.com
I#39;m a husband, a father, an Atlanta Braves fan, and oh yeah…I know a thing or two about Microsoft SQL Server, because I work for Microsoft supporting it as a Premier Field Engineer. I have over 15 years of DBA experience and have gained considerable knowledge in SQL Server by supporting lots of different type of applications ranging from high-volume trading applications to large data warehouses. I hold several certifications: MCSE: Data Platform, MCITP SQL 2008 Admin and Dev, and Security+.
Steve Jones
Twitter: - way0utwest
LinkedIn: Steve Jones
Contact: http://www.voiceofthedba.com/
Steve Jones is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP and has been working with SQL Server since version 4.2 on OS/2. After working as a DBA and developer for a variety of companies, Steve co-founded the community website SQLServerCentral.com in 2001. Since 2004, Steve has been the full-time editor of the site, ensuring it continues to be a great resource for SQL Server professionals. Over the last decade, Steve has written hundreds of articles about SQL Server for SQLServerCentral.com, SQL Server Standard magazine, SQL Server Magazine, and Database Journal.
Jason Horner
Twitter: - jasonhorner
LinkedIn: Jason Horner
Contact: http://blog.jasonhorner.com
Hi, my name is Jason I’m a practice lead at Redapt. I spend most of my day helping clients solve business problems mostly in the Data and Advanced Analytics spaces. Sometimes this involves various and sundry cloud technologies including Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Data Lake Store, Azure Databricks, HDInsight and Azure SQL Database. I’m fluent in several languages including: SQL, C#, Python, and PowerShell.
I’m a Microsoft Certified Master of SQL Server (MCM) and have been recognized for my technical excellence and evangelism efforts by Microsoft by being awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for the last 5+ years.
In my off hours I like to snowboard, karaoke, ride roller coasters, and play arcade games
Tracy Boggiano
Twitter: - TracyBoggiano
LinkedIn: Tracy Boggiano
Contact: http://databasesuperhero.com
Tracy Boggiano is a Senior Database Administrator for DocuSIgn. She has spent over 20 years in IT, using SQL Server since 1999, and is currently certified as an MCSE Data Platform. Tracy has worked on SQL Server since 6.5. She has spoken at local user groups and numerous SQLSaturdays. She is currently a co-leader of a TriPASS Local Group in Raleigh, NC.
Tracy also tinkered with databases in middle school to keep her sports card collection organized. She blogs at databasesuperhero.com.
Her passion outside of SQL Server is volunteering with foster children as their advocate in court through volunteerforgal.org and being a mental health advocate as part of the PAIMI NC Advisory Council.
Sponsors
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event: